DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): The capacity of persons with mental illness to comprehend informed consent disclosure for participation in research may be affected by a wide variety of factors, including personal (e.g., present symptoms and degree of cognitive impairment), contextual (e.g., readability or complexity of disclosures), and interpersonal (e.g., how the informed consent process is conducted). The proposed study will examine important variables in each of these domains to determine their impact on comprehension of consent disclosures by persons receiving psychiatric services. One independent variable will be diagnosis: adult with diagnoses of SCHIZophrenia or DEPRession, and psychiatrically NORMal controls will serve as research participants. A second independent variable will be the literal "form" of the consent disclosure: some subjects will read (and have read to them) a form graphically designed to enhance comprehension of the information contained ("GRAPHIC"), while others will get simply a narrative, prose from without graphic enhancements ("TYPICAL"). A third independent variable will be the disclosure process. Three levels will occur. Some subjects will get the USUAL procedure in which they read (and have read to them) the disclosure form, after which they will be tested for comprehension; for a second group FEEDBACK will be provided after testing, with the opportunity for further study and consideration of the disclosure prior to retesting; for a third group the disclosure dialogue between the subject and "researcher" will be mediated by a third party FACILITATOR, whose explicit role will be to assist the subject understand the disclosure. Dependent measures will include both RECALL (paraphrase) and RECOGNITION (multiple choice) tests of the disclosed material. Therefore, this study will examine and evaluate the utility of the following enhancements that may increase the comprehension of persons with mental illness: (1) graphic presentation of the consent form, (2) the presence of a third party "facilitator" who mediates the disclosure dialogue, (3) the opportunity for serial feedback and review of the disclosure as part of sequential testing, and (4) different methods to measure comprehension.